Predator and Prey
by Moonless Dusk
Summary: "Almost..." That's probably the hardest word to learn. The realization something was only a hairline away. First challenge for DandelionClan!
**Alright, first DandelionClan challenge here. This is a free-write, so the story you're about to read is probably the first thing that popped into my head.**

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 _Carnage. Slaughter. Butchery._

"In the tree!"

"Don't look back!"

 _We do it all the time. It doesn't matter how we justify it._

"Where's Redstar?!"

"Thistleberry!"

"My kits! They're still back there!"

 _Food? Maybe... Maybe it's more than that. The process it always the same._

"Honeyflower, move!"

"They can't get up!"

"We have to _go_."

 _We take the land, the homes, of other creatures inhabiting this area. Why? Because we can. We're bigger, faster, stronger, and like to think we're smarter._

"They have already jumped the river!"

"Breezesong, leave her. This is pointless."

"I can't-"

"You will."

 _What has made us think we're superior to them? That we have this given right to do this to other living creatures? What makes us so different? We all think, we breath, and feel the same pain._

"But Clearpool-"

"They are a lost cause and you know it. We can't risk the safety of the majority for them. It's too late."

"..."

"I'm sorry."

"...Do you hear the howls?"

 _We never do think about it much, do we? We know they have a family. They know they have a family. How did we continue doing it? It's because we thought they were put in this world for us, for our benefit. Yes, they may be smaller, slower, and weaker, but we feel just the same._

"I can't see the gorge!"

"Watch your step!"

"I don't see them!"

"Jaggedfur! I thought Tinypaw was with you?"

 _We also neglect the fear, even when it's clear on their face. I believe the kittypets called it the "deer in the headlights" look. Before getting hit by a monster, they stare in to the monster's bright eyes. It's a mixture of terror and acceptance. At crossroads with "I don't want to die this way," as well as "So this is how it ends,"._

"Tinypaw, you have to keep running!"

"I... can't..."

A distant thud.

A growl.

"StarClan, preserve us..."

 _That is if you're lucky anyway. There was a time cats didn't consider this. It may have been seasons before my time, but the clans have stood for a long time. In reality, it was more recent than we'd like to believe. Make it quick, and it might not seem as scary. Make it slow, there's no terror like it._

"No. No. No! Please, no! StarClan, save me! NOOOOOO-"

A whimper.

"My apprentice. I've failed you. I'm so sorry."

The thundering steps continue.

 _Some may think that death is the worst part. What about the body? Once living and breathing, now it lies still, bloodied and stiff. There are those that prepare the body, clean the_ _wounds as if nothing happened, then make them smell like the sweeter flower to hide the smell of death. Their dead? The considerate will at least bury what's left. The others? That's nature's problem to dispose of._

"Redstar!"

"Pick him up!"

"Breezesong!"

I sprinted past the voices, only catching a glimpse of the scene. Redstar, the figurehead of ThunderClan's power, was now reduced to little more than a scrap of matted fur and bone.

The growls are almost on top of us.

 _How long have I been running? How far did we go? How long did we think we could hide? This world is so big, but we thought we were bigger._

The roar of the waterfall assaulted by ears and the droplets it spewed blurred by vision. It didn't matter, I was almost there. Almost to safety. Away from these predators. These _monsters_. I don't even know how many were left, how many escaped.

 _As soon as this plague appeared, I thought "It won't be me.", yet here I am. I'm running for my life. Almost there. Almost there._

"Almost..."

 _That's probably the hardest word to learn. The realization something was only a hairline away. Accepting you nearly reached a goal or knowing you just escaped._

Here I am, a deer in the headlights, starring in to the bright eyes of the end, and crushed under the paws of a monster. I don't fight. I don't scream. I just stare.

 _Growing up, I was told, "Follow the warrior code, and you will have nothing to fear,". They were right all along. I'm starring at the jaws of this beast, it's snarling face, and narrowed eyes... and it's humbling. We never think about how fragile we are. We resent the mere idea of ever being bested._

The fangs draw close. I inhale.

"I am Breezesong of ThunderClan. I've seen five winters. My leader was Redstar. I stood by my mate Honeyflower and our beautiful kits Bloomkit and Robinkit, yet abandoned them when they were met with the same fate. Death never fazed me, I saw it every day. I took so many lives myself, but never thought of it like this."

My throat tightens.

"I hope to StarClan that I could be forgiven for letting these lives slip by. I hope that every life has a soft cloud in StarClan just for them. I hope that they will never have to be met with teeth and claws ever again."

I feel the hot ragged breath on my neck. The foul smelling odor of blood invades my nose.

"StarClan, please forgive me for my errors. I ask this of my ancestors and clanmates that were slain this night."

I don't feel anything. There is no pain. There is no smell of blood. No droplets in my eyes. No pressure on my throat. I try to speak, but no works come. I listen for the waterfall, but there is no roar. It's only dark. It's only silent.


End file.
